Issue: "Fight against tax evasion in Germany"
This was one of the most essential issues relating to the tax affair, which was a constant theme
throughout the media reporting.
First of all, there was an obvious interest in Germany — for whatever reasons (see also Chapter
6.9) — to keep the interest focused on Liechtenstein to the extent possible, with at times hard-
line rhetoric. Initially, Liechtenstein was referred to as a "den of thieves", a "modern form of
robber barons" or even a "rogue State". This offered a breeding ground for proposals to
increase the penalties for tax evasion from 10 to 15 years. But not everyone agreed to this
attitude and approach. A comment in a letter to the editor in SPIEGEL 9/2008 represents
many voices from Germany that were also expressed in e-mails to the Liechtenstein
Government: "The call by our politicians for higher penalties for tax evaders is embarrassing
and demeaning. The incitement to public persecution, the parading of individuals — solely
with a view to getting more votes — is indecent and disgusting, since the politicians
themselves are up to their elbows in the pie. Germany as a business location itself is
threatened by the tax legislation."
Some interest groups took the tax affair as an occasion to treat the symptoms within Germany
and to get a grip on the problem of tax evasion. The German Confederation of Trade Unions
and politicians demanded more staff for the tax authorities: "We need more tax investigators
and corporate auditors, and we need better coordination between the states and the Federal
Government." (Michael Meister, Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group,
Handelsblatt, 19.2., 2) or "First of all, we need better resources for tax investigators at the
federal level and strengthening of the special prosecutors." (Reinhard Bütikofer, head of the
Green party, FTD, 19.2., 26). The headline of the Tagesspiegel on 20.2.2008 (p. 4) read: "The
prosecution pressure must increase."
In any event, the tax affair was an occasion for conducting a controversial discussion in
Germany about possible simplifications of the tax system. While Federal Minister of Finance
Steinbrück (SPD) categorically rejected this suggestion, Bavarian Minister of Finance Huber
(CSU) and FDP tax expert Solms, along others, demanded radical simplifications of the
German tax system (dpa, 24.2.2008). In the case of tax evasion by Klaus Zumwinkel, the goal
was apparently to achieve an effect on other tax evaders, even though certain claims had to be
taken back rather quickly: At eight o'clock in the morning, the news spoke of tens of millions
in taxes that allegedly had been evaded. By five o'clock in the afternoon, that sum had been
reduced to a million euros. This is certainly still a lot of money, but not enough for a "public
execution in the media". What happened to the presumption of innocence? The uneasy feeling
persists that the nationally renowned Klaus Zumwinkel was being used as a public deterrent.
The search of Zumwinkel's home was nothing other than a modern media pillory, which even
the otherwise serious FTD published on 25.2.2008 (p. 26): "Eventually, the tax investigators
catch everyone."
Issue: " Tax competition vs. tax harmonization"
The topic of tax evasion in Germany in a broader sense, with a view to the degree of tax
honesty in Germany and other European countries, was initially at the surface and primarily
an issue in the mass media. But in fact, an entirely different, larger and global issue was
hidden behind it, namely tax competition vs. tax harmonization. For example, Euro am
Sonntag (2.3.2008, 22) wrote under the headline "Engaged in global competition": "Tax flight
59